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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/10/world/middleeast/10mideast.html
With Pressure on Hamas, Gaza Is Cut Off
[New York Times] Steven Erlanger and Isabel Kershner - Karni is the main cargo crossing on the Gaza-Israel border and the only one equipped for commercial imports and exports. While Congress has been asked to provide millions to help Abbas' Presidential Guard and to rebuild the Palestinian side of Karni, Rep. Steven Israel (D-NY) said during a visit to the region, "There is no appetite to fund Karni, no interest there." Some Israeli officials and Western diplomats say they believe Fatah is keeping Karni shut to squeeze Hamas - just as Egypt has agreed to keep closed the Rafah crossing on its border with Israel. At the height of the Hamas-Fatah fighting, the PA Presidential Guard, which had previously secured the Palestinian side of the crossing and which is loyal to Fatah, fled their posts. With them vanished the Israeli-Palestinian agreements for running the crossing. Abbas has ordered his forces in Gaza to stay at home and many believe he would rather see Karni stay shut for now. "That is my understanding," said Rep. Israel, who recently spent time with Palestinian leaders in Ramallah.